The present invention relates to microemulsion compositions which improve the drying rate, protection, and shine of various surfaces, specifically metallic vehicle surfaces. The coatings of the microemulsion compositions last significantly longer, more easily remove water, and provide shinier surface protection than coating compositions previously known in the art. The microemulsion composition applied to surfaces provides hydrophobized surfaces and leads to increased contact angles for water droplets, and thus a smaller xe2x80x9cfootprintxe2x80x9d of the water droplets to facilitate their removal.
In the commercial automatic vehicle wash setting, it is desirable to apply a vehicle or automotive wash aid such as a drying agent and/or synthetic spray wax after the car is washed and rinsed. The drying agents or spray waxes are typically applied by spraying them onto the surface of the automobile during or after the rinse cycle. The drying agent-spray wax compositions electrostatically bond to the automobile surface. Depending on the hydrophobicity of the composition, the residual water which clings to the surface tends to form beads or is xe2x80x9cbeadedxe2x80x9d. Depending on the characteristics of the drying agents and/or spray wax, the water will run off the surface at a certain rate, especially if during the drying step jets of air are directed tangentially to the automobile""s surface. Prior art drying agents and spray waxes typically utilize an oil based hydrophobe which tend to have poor durability and result in a greasy film which can be left on the windshield or glass surfaces of an automobile.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,590 to Hei et al., relates to a touchless car wash composition that can be made from a concentrate and diluted to use concentration using commonly available service water can comprise an ether amine or diamine in particular a fatty ether amine or diamine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,272 to Vicenzi, relates to an automobile spray wax composition incorporating an aromatic compound having at least one of two linear C8 to C20 alkyl substituents, and a preferred embodiment thereof including a compound identified and characterized by a CAS registry number of 68988-79-4.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,419 to Popa et al., relates to a method for treating and protecting a substrate, said method comprising coating the surface of said substrate with a composition comprising a blend of
(a) a polydimethylsiloxane polymer having a viscosity at 25xc2x0 C. of 5 to 100,000 cS; and
(b) a polyisobutylene oligomer having a number average molecular weight of 200 to 550. The treatment imparts an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the surfaces of plastic, rubber or leather substrates whereby surface gloss is enhanced, but not excessively, as is the case for a comparable all-silicone treating agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,325 to Swenson et al., relates to emulsion compositions which are used as auto spray waxes or rinse or drying aids in automatic car washes. The inventive emulsion replaces mineral seal oil of prior art emulsions with more environmentally acceptable simple esters of natural fatty acids having the general structural formula: 
wherein Rxe2x80x94C is from an acid moiety having approximately 12-26 carbon atoms, and Rxe2x80x2 is from an alcohol moiety having approximately 1-5 carbon atoms. In an additional embodiment, the emulsion composition can include an amine oxide coupling solvent or solubilizer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,329 to Tarr, relates to water repellent compositions including a silico-titanium polymer, a cationic, surface-active quaternary ammonium compound, and a spreading agent which provides odor detection properties.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,702 to Kummer, et al., relates to a proposed fuel or lubricant composition which contains one or more polybutyl or polyisobutylamines of the general formula: 
where R1 is a polybutyl- or polyisobutyl radical derived from isobutene and up to 20% by weight of n-butene and R2 and R3 are identical or different and are each hydrogen, an aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon, a primary or secondary, aromatic or aliphatic aminoalkylene radical or polyaminoalkylene radical, a polyoxyalkylene radical, or a hetaryl or hetercyclyl radical, or, together with the nitrogen atom to which they are bonded, form a ring in which further hetero atoms may be present.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,401 to Shore, is related to the cleaning of the surface of an object, such as an automobile, during which the surface is subjected to a detergent and then rinsed with water and dried by beading, an optical brightener is injected into, or contained in, the detergent and/or the rinsing water and/or the beading material. The inclusion of the optical brightener not only improves the appearance of the cleaned object, giving it luster and causing it to gleam, but also materially accelerates or improves the beading.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,301 to Gammon, relates to microemulsion defoamer compositions which are oil in water colloidal dispersions useful in defoaming aqueous systems such as in paper machines and latex paints. These compositions are prepared by mixing a water dispersible organic material, ethylene oxide condensate, coupling agent, water, basic material and antigelling agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,852,075 to Basadur, relates to a composition for improving the efficiency of automatic carwash establishments by facilitating the drying of cars and for imparting a protective coating to hard surfaces such as the exterior of cars which comprises non-volatile mineral oil, amine-functional polydimethylsiloxane (AFDS) and cationic emulsifier at critical levels and in critical proportions. A method for applying a protective coating to hard surfaces is also provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,711,409 to Ayres et al., relates to an ice-preventive and de-icing material for application to metallic objects, such as railway switches and the like, which is in the form of a viscous, stable, oil-in-water emulsion, comprising about 5% to 30% of the lubricant oil or grease, which is substantially insoluble in water, as the disperse phase; about 2 to 20% of a cationic or non-ionic surface active agent as an emulsifying agent; and the balance an aqueous solution, as the continuous phase, containing about 2 to 5% of the total composition of a water-absorbing, viscosity-maintaining compound and a sufficient amount of a freezing point depressant for water to lower the freezing point of the water which the composition comes into contact and thereby prevent the formation of ice on the protected object or remove ice from the protected object, provide lubrication of parts where required and prevent adhesion of parts as needed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,718 to Clumpner, relates to an emulsifier system for forming a stable oil and water emulsion which contains mixtures of difatty ethoxylated quaternized amidoamines in which the fatty acid residues are derived from soya and coconut oil.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,168 to Atherton et al., relates to a protective polish composition for auto laundries of a dicoco dimethyl quaternary amine, an ethoxylated tertiary amine and an emulsifiable mineral oil.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,933 to Yates, relates to wax containing automobile polishes made detergent resistant by incorporating therein the reaction product of. a hydroxyl endblocked polydimethylsiloxane having a viscosity in the range of 10 to 15,00 cs., and a silane selected from the group consisting of those having the general formulae
Rxe2x80x3n(Rxe2x80x2O)3xe2x88x92nSi(CH2)3NHRxe2x80x3xe2x80x2 and
Rxe2x80x3n(Rxe2x80x2O)3xe2x88x92nSiRNHCH2CH2NH2
wherein Rxe2x80x3xe2x80x2 is a hydrogen atom or a methyl radical, Rxe2x80x3 is a monovalent hydrocarbon radical free of aliphatic unsaturation and contains from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, n has a value of from 0 to 2, Rxe2x80x2 is an alkyl radical containing from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and R is a divalent hydrocarbon radical free of aliphatic unsaturation and contains 3 to 4 carbon atoms, the weight ratio of the siloxane to the silane being in the range of about 1:1 to 20:1.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,440,063 to Chestochowski et al., relates to an emulsion composition for use in automatic car washes comprising a monoester (C6-C12 moieties), an acetic acid salt of a fatty amine, a hydrotrope, a short chain alcohol and water; processes for removing water from automobiles utilizing said emulsion compositions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,222,213 to Clark, relates to preparations for treating cleaned surfaces. In one aspect, this invention relates to emulsified formulations for rinsing previously cleaned automobiles.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,222,201 to Boyle, et al., relates to cleaning and coating formulations. More particularly, this invention relates to oil-in-water emulsions suitable for simultaneous cleaning and coating of finished surfaces.
A stable emulsion such as the hydrophobizing microemulsion compositions of the present invention, in addition to improving appearance of the target surface, provide protection and allow the surfaces to dry faster. The microemulsion composition of the present invention generally comprise a) a hydrophobe component which always at least comprises a polyisobutylene of some form, or a copolymer or derivative thereof, b) an emulsifying component, c) optionally but desirably solvent and d) optionally but preferably water. When applied to a surface, the compositions of the present invention cause water, such as rain water or rinse water from a carwash, to bead up and have much higher contact angles when compared to prior art compositions. The higher the contact angle, the more easily the water can be removed by running off the surface, by gravity, or by being blown off by jets of air from a commercial drier. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to increase the hydrophobicity of the surfaces in order to attain these objectives.